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Friday, 28 December 2012

Brandenburg Choral Festival

The Brandenburg Choral Festival opens tomorrow night (29 December) at St Martin in the Fields with a performance of Handel's Messiah from the Delphian Singers and the Brandenburg Baroque Soloists. Concerts run until 6 May 2013 and cover a number of venues, St Martin in the Fields, the Queens Chapel of the Savoy, the Chapel of Kings College, London, St. John's Waterloo, the National Portrait Gallery, St Clement Danes Church and the Temple Church. With a total of 66 concerts in all.

The festival provides the opportunity to hear a wide variety of interesting choirs, many supported by the Brandenburg Sinfonia whose director, Bob Porter, founded the festival in 2010.

The Delphian Singers, whose members are drawn from a bank of young professional singers, return in April for a performance of Monteverdi's Vespers. The London Youth Choir and Voce Chamber Choir with the Brandenburg Sinfonia will be performing Haydn's Creation under conductor Suzi Digby. There is a bank holiday concert on 6 May featuring Haydn's Nelson Mass with the English Baroque Choir conducted by Jeremy Jackman.

The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama Chamber Choir will make its first appearance at St Martin's performing Rossini's Petite Messe solonelle. The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is providing a 6-part close harmony group as well as the Guildhall Jazz Singers and Ensemble. Rupert Gough conducts the choir of Royal Holloway and the Brandenburg Sinfonia in Mozart's Requiem.

There will be a series of Jazz ensembles in the crypt of St Martin in the Fields. In addition to concerts there are also walks exploring festival.